Thursday, July 12, 2001
NCAA sets big change for tourney sites
The NCAA will radically alter the way it fills out its Division I men's basketball tournament bracket next season, blurring regional lines and worrying less about near home-court advantages in an effort to keep more teams closer to home.
The moves, to be unveiled by the men's basketball committee as early as today, are designed to cut travel and missed-class time for athletes, reduce costs and boost tournament interest and attendance.
It appears the men will take a cue from the NCAA women's tournament in mixing playing sites and regions in the first and second rounds. Games in, say, Greensboro, N.C., could include four teams in the West bracket and four in the East. That would allow more teams to stay closer to home in the early rounds.
“You wouldn't get rid of all the travel,” says committee chairman Lee Fowler of North Carolina State. “But you're going to cut it down in the first and second rounds. After the first and second rounds, it becomes the same tournament (as in the past).”
If in effect last season, the moves would have prevented the cross-country shipment of Maryland, Georgetown and George Mason to the West.
The changes were prompted in part by complaints about the distant sites from fans and players' parents.
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NCAA sets big change for tourney sites
